List of Birmingham homicides in 2007

This is a List of Birmingham homicides in 2007. It includes homicide cases occuring within the city limits during the calendar year. Note that a "homicide" refers to the cause of death as determined by a medical examiner, not to the commission of the crime of murder as charged by police and prosecutors.

Birmingham had 94 homicides in 2007. Based on the 2006 census estimate of 229,424 population, that represents 41.0 homicides per 100,000 population for the year. The total represents a 14% drop from the 109 homicides in 2006. The city counted 105 in 2005, and a record of 141 in 1992.

Birmingham reported 86 murders to the FBI under its Uniform Crime Reporting program. The FBI used census data from previous years to project the city's 2007 population at 227,686. By those counts the city's murder rate was 37.8 per 100,000. A comparison of those statistics prepared by indicates that Birmingham ranked 8th nationally for its 2007 homicide rate among cities with a population greater than 100,000.

The city averaged 7.8 homicides per month, or one every 3.9 days. There were 14 homicides in July, 13 in November, 12 in October, 10 in September, 8 each in January and June, 6 in May, August and December, and 4 each in February, March, and April. The longest stretch without a homicide was between February 26 and March 22.

Of the 94 recorded homicides, suspects have been reported identified in at least 61 cases, apprehended in 48, charged in 41, and convicted in 21 (including 9 guilty pleas). Two trials ended in acquittals and nine cases were dismissed. One conviction was overturned. One case was a murder-suicide. Two incidents were police shootings, one of which was ruled justified and one of which remains under investigation.

76 of the 94 were shootings. 28 took place inside residences while 28 occurred on the street. Of the victims, 67 were black males, 13 white males, 6 white females, 5 black females, 2 Hispanic males and one Middle Eastern immigrant. In the majority of cases, police could not establish a prior relationship between murderer and victim. In 25 cases the victims were known to be acquainted with their killers, 11 of which arose from domestic violence. 5 are known to have been committed by strangers.

A 2008 study by UAB researchers showed that 24% of victims seriously injured by violent acts died from their injuries in 2007, compared to 41% in 1997.

Contents

Listing by date

Timeline showing homicides in 2007

January 1: Wyteria Rogers, 20, was found shot in her car on 200 block of 93rd Street North (map). Gregory Johnson Jr, the father of her child, was convicted of capital murder in September 2008 and sentenced to life without parole. Investigators showed that he shot her after she grew upset about another woman calling his cell phone. (report)

January 1: Lavaughn Fortune, 34, ambushed in planned robbery at King City Food Mart at Warrior Road and Avenue P in Belview Heights (map). Following testimony from two drug defendants who claimed to have witnessed the shootng, Mark Edward Smith Jr was arrested and charged with capital murder in October 2009. It is believed he was targeting a man who had sold the car to Fortune a week earlier. Smith is also charged with the 2008 murder of Quinton Washington. (report)

February 9: Ronald Smith Jr, 19, was shot to death at 2948 Gallant Drive in Apple Valley (map). Kevin DeWayne Lane, a former boyfriend of Smith's girlfriend, Ebony Smith (no relation) shot him three times inside her apartment. He was convicted of intentional murder and sentenced to 75 years in prison. In November 2009 Lane was granted a new trial because jurors had not been given an opportunity to consider a lesser charge of provocation manslaughter. On retrial he was again found guilty of intentional murder and again sentenced to 75 years. (report)

February 26: Joseph Van McGhee, 26, confined to a wheelchair after a previous gunshot wound, was hit by a shot intended for his cousin while visiting his cousin's home on the 400 block of Princeton Avenue (map). McGhee was pronounced dead at UAB Hospital. Investigators determined that the gunfight was started by Davarrios Noel, who then used McGhee as a human shield. He was charged with felony murder and attempted murder, but found not guilty in a January 2009 jury trial. Noel's intended victim and McGhee's shooter, Edderick Anderson, was injured in the gunfight and was not charged in the death. [7]

March 27: Conoard Norris, 21, was assaulted by several men in the parking lot of Triple T's Food Store at 2517 Bush Boulevard in Ensley after an insult about Norris' clothes escalated into violence (map). Gaivan Deandre Paige, Marcell Cummings, Marquette Cummings, Traon Darnell Call and Ali Buford were all charged with capital murder in the shooting. The Cummings brothers and Paige pleaded guilty to intentional murder and were sentenced to life without parole. Call was acquitted in March 2009, and Buford's case was dismissed in 2009. Marquette Cummings was stabbed to death in a fight in the St Clair County Correctional Facility in 2014. (report)

March 30: Darryontae Plummer, 22, shot at 86th Place North and 86th Way in Zion City (map). Another man was injured in the same shooting. Brandon Varner and Roy Seals pleaded guilty to murder. Varner received a life sentence and Seals got 25 years. (report)

April 6: William G. Bishop, 56, died from blunt force trauma after fighting with William James Johnson in a wooded area at 8th Avenue North and Carraway Boulevard (map). Both men were homeless. Johnson has been arrested and charged with murder. [11]

April 25: Calvin Square, 32, shot in chest after an altercation with another male in the parking lot of an apartment complex on the 2000 block of Avenue J in the Tuxedo community of Ensley (map). The victim was transported to UAB Hospital where he died. The suspect surrendered to police at the scene, but has not been charged. [13]

May 9: Annie Ruth Gullion, 53, found in badly decomposed state alongside railroad track in a wooded area near the 3200 block of 2nd Avenue North (map). Though the cause has not yet been determined, her death is being investigated as a homicide. [14]

May 25: Amanda Bryant, 21, transient and prostitute, was found dead at 36th Avenue West and 32nd Court West from a gunshot to the head. Terry Roshaun Pruitt and Derek Wright were charged with capital murder in July 2009. Truitt was imprisoned on other charges and Wright turned himself in to police in July 2009. [16]

May 26: Mikylah Mays, 3 months old, found unresponsive at home at 6725 1st Avenue South and later pronounced dead at Children's Hospital (map). The infant's parents, Michael Mays, 23, and Joycelyn Smitherman, 22, were arrested on suspicion of murder, but later released when the District Attorney declined to charge them for lack of evidence. [17]

May 30: William DeAngelo Perry, 20, found shot on steps in front of his apartment building at 8009 1st Avenue South (map). Cortney Chancellor convicted of murder and sentenced to life. (report)

June 29: Raymond May, 47, was shot on the 200 block of Bolin Street in the Loveman Village housing project in South Titusville. (map). Lenzy Gibson pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Accomplice Icaac Ray Bankhead provided the shotgun Gibson used and drove the getaway car. He was convicted at trial in August 2008 and sentenced to 30 years. [25]

July 1: Lucille Marie "Greta" Carter, 44, a prostitute, was found shot and dumped on the 100 block of Finley Avenue with a bag over her head (map). Bruce D. Mendenhall of Albion, Illinois, a trucker and suspected serial killer was arrested on July 12 in Nashville, Tennessee. His statement implicated him in at least six murders and he was charged in Carter's death based on witness descriptions of his truck. In May 2010 he was convicted of the murder of Sarah Nicole Hulbert in Nashville. He has also been charged with solicitation of murder in the attempt to contract for the murders of two Nashville police detectives and three witnesses after his arrest. (report)

July 4: Cornelius Hudson, 21, was shot on the 8600 block of 2nd Avenue North after turning a deal to sell 18 Oxy-Contin tablets into a robbery. (map). Patrick Scott Higgins was charged with capital murder but was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. [27]

July 7: Latorya Johnson, 23 and pregnant, was shot inside her apartment at 1785 Pearson Avenue Southwest. Her boyfriend, David Lockett has been charged with capital murder. [28]

July 15: Eddie Lee Jackson, 42, found dead in a pick-up truck that crashed into a house at 912 3rd Street Pratt in Pratt City immediately after gunshots were heard in the vicinity (map). No arrest. [29]

July 16: Abdo Kasim Musa, 28, a clerk at Matt's Market at 3320 17th Avenue North (map), was shot to death as he closed the store around 11:00 PM. The owner of the store offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Radhwan Mushen, a Michigan resident, was arrested and charged based on an information that Mushen attempted to contract him to kill Musa as revenge for the murder of one of his relatives by a relative of Musa's. Those charges were later dismissed by prosecutors. [31]

July 17: Skeletal remains of an unidentified male found in a shallow grave off 27th Avenue North near the CSX Railroad tracks. A homeless woman was arrested for hindering prosecution in connection with the case, which was ruled a homicide based on autopsy results. [32]

July 20: Eulin Matthews III, 19, shot in a gunfight outside a nightlcub near the intersection of 6th Avenue North and 16th Street North downtown (map). A suspect has been identified, but there is not enough evidence to date for a charge. [34]

July 25: Derrick Williams, 29, found shot to death inside his burning house at 225 Newark Circle (map). His infant daughter was safe in her car seat in his SUV outside. A suspect has been identified, but there is not enough evidence for a charge. [38]

August 13: Christopher Ogletree, 47 was shot by police during a confrontation in his yard at 1053 40th Street Ensley (map). Witnesses say Ogletree had spent several days in the yard before police were summoned. The officer called for backup and was attacked with a knife before he fired the single shot that killed Ogletree. BPD's internal affairs division and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation are investigating the incident. [40]

August 19: Ronald Lewis, 20, shot in the abdomen outside a Southside nightclub. He was found dead in the alley behind the 1200 block of 20th Street South near Highland Avenue (map). The case remains unsolved. A $5,000 reward for information has been announced by Governor Riley. [41]

August 23: Donnie Ashford, 55, shot outside his flatbed tow truck at Avenue Z and 29th Street Ensley. Deverargray Miller was convicted of murder and sentenced to life. An accomplice was also investigated. (report)

September 5: Clyde Patrick, 44, died shortly after being shot by Birmingham Police using an electric stun gun at 19th Street and 5th Avenue South on August 2. The death was classified by the Jefferson County Coroner as a homicide on September 5 and turned over to the District Attorney. [43]

September 9: Charles Lawrence, 21, found in a car in a wooded area near Slayden Avenue in Sherman Heights. Dedric Mullins, 16, was charged with capital murder and turned himself in. He was convicted and sentenced to life without parole in July 2009. (report)

September 20: New evidence led authorities to reclassify the January 12, 2000 drowning death of 2-year-old Christopher Blake Thompson as a homicide. Thompson's body was found on the banks of Five Mile Creek about a mile northwest of his house on Stoudemire Avenue in Roebuck. Thompson's step-father John Osburn, is now implicated in the death.

September 30: Michael William Bamberg, 65, was found beaten with his throat cut at his home at 1300 Impala Drive in the Spring Lake neighborhood of Huffman (map). Jabari Leon Bascomb has been arrested and charged with capital murder. He pleaded guilty to intentional murder and was sentenced to 23 years in prison. (report)

October 8: Kayla Nicole Fanaei, a student at UAB, found shot to death in her car in the Glen Iris Elementary School parking lot on the 1100 block of 11th Street South (map). Alfred Jerrell Marina, Maurice McCarty and Gregory Hill were arrested and charged with capital murder. Hill pleaded guilty to felony murder and was sentenced to 25 years. After two mistrials, McCarty was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to life with the possibility of parole in 2010. Marina rejected a plea deal and was convicted of felony murder in August 2010. He was given a 50 year sentence. (report)]

October 16: Matthew Walker, 38, found in vacant house on Nelson Drive in Roebuck (map). No arrest. A $5,000 reward for information leading to a conviction has been offered by the Governor's office. [49]

October 21: Matthew Smith, 23 months old, found at home. Pronounced dead at Children's Hospital. Nikia Cornell McConico, a housemate, was taken into custody and was charged with capital murder following the coroner's report that the death was a homicide. His September 2009 prosecution ended in a mistrial. McConico later pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse and served a three year sentence ending in June 2012. (report)

October 26: Kenneth Holmes, 21, was shot to death while sitting in his car near Legion Field after the Magic City Classic. Stetory Calhoun, the boyfriend of Holmes' child's mother, fired multiple shots into the Crown Victoria, striking Holmes twice. Holmes made it as far 4th Avenue North and 13th Street before losing consciousness and colliding with a Buick LeSabre. Calhoun was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. (report)

November 4: Scott "Blue" Bernstein, 51, found shot to death in his Chevrolet Tracker on Cotton Avenue across the street from New Era Baptist Church. More than $10,000 in rewards were offered for information leading to a conviction. Richard Morris and Teiara Marchbank were arrested in January 2014 and charged with his murder. During a preliminary hearing, defense attorneys informed Judge Tommy Nail that the pair sought retribution for having been given counterfeit bills during an earlier drug transaction. Prosecutors dropped the case when they found contradictions between phone records and witness testimony. (report)

November 11: Clifton Smith, 19, shot on an outside hallway of an apartment on the 2900 block of Gallant Drive. Two teenage suspects were charged with capital murder, but the charges were dismissed for lack of evidence after a witness recanted her testimony. A $5,000 reward for information was announced by Governor Riley in July 2008. [58]

November 17: Robert V. Payne, 41, found dead, beaten and partially burned in a garage behind a house at 7422 1st Avenue South in East Lake. Christopher Lauderdale has been arrested and charged with murder. [61]

November 24: Latrisha Pruitt, 26, found strangled to death under a pile of clothes in the garage of her burned home at 410 West Smithfield Circle in Dolomite. Kortney Simon, the father of her newborn child, was charged with murder and arson. He was convicted after a cellmate testified about his description of the crime. [62]

December 19: Graham Bankston, 7 weeks old, found shot in back yard at 4220 7th Avenue South in Avondale. His mother, Jennifer Bankston, was also found dead and is believed to have perpetrated a murder-suicide. [68]

Other cases

February 4: Darrion "DJ" Grant Jr, 3, died in a fire at his home. His mother, Lashonda Spigner, had left him with a 9-year-old brother to go to a nightclub. The oven, which she had left on to help heat the house, caused the fire. Though the death was not counted as a homicide during 2007, Spigner was charged with manslaughter. She was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in July 2008 and sentenced to 12 months in prison. [71]

The Council's Public Safety Committee met with John Sloan, Chair of the UAB Department of Justice Sciences, to discuss remedies for the city's crime rate which could be recommended to the Mayor and Police Chief Annetta Nunn. Sloan discussed steps the city of Boston took in the early 1990s to reduce homicide, which started with a detailed analysis of case data. Also at the meeting were Jefferson County Medical Examiner Robert Brissie, who reported that 41% of victims had drugs in their system and called the "drug mess" a "serious, serious problem." Nunn, also in attendence, brought the Council's attention to a 1997 crime reduction plan which has never been fully implemented. (Bryant - Jan 18)

On January 23, the mayor and council endorsed Sloan's study and approved spending as much as $150,000 to have Sloan's department study police records and re-interview suspects, witnesses and family members. Councilor Joel Montgomery expressed the council's decision that the 1997 crime plan was "absolutely irrelevant to what's going on now." (Bryant - Jan 24)

By June 8, with only 30 homicides compared to 42 at the same point in 2006, the Council acknowledged the police department's apparent successes and decided not to proceed with the proposed study. (Bryant - June 10). With funds, partly from a major narcotics-related seizure, the Police Department has applied for a matching grant to obtain hardware and software for a modern crime database. With the ability to pinpoint crime patterns quickly, the department hopes to better implement the "CompStat" accountability procedures pioneered in the New York Police Department. (Hansen - Aug 5)

Crime reduction was the single most important issue to voters polled prior to the 2007 Birmingham mayoral election. Most candidates spoke in favor of increasing the number of police officers as well as the accountability of the department. Valerie Abbott, William Bell, Patrick Cooper, and Carole Smitherman pledged tougher enforcement, with Cooper offering a "six point plan" based on successful plans implemented in New York City. Larry Langford espoused more discipline in the home and a program to give local students college scholarships as key elements in his crime reduction plan. Langford was elected.